My Top 20 albums from 1980 No 17

Common One ( 1980 )
Haunts of Ancient Peace / Summertime in England / Satisfied / Wild Honey / Spirit / When Heart Is Open
'Summertime In England' is the albums center-piece, stretching out over fifteen minutes 'Astral Weeks' style, as if to prove Van still had that special something when the muse hit him. Trumpets and strings decorate parts of the song and the lyrics are of course mystical sounding. 'Haunts Of Ancient Peace' and 'Summertime In England' add upto some twenty-two minutes of music - clearly Morrison wasn't about to make it easy for fans by delivering a 'Brown Eyed Girl' or anything at all to ease a listener gently into his new music. No, the spiritualism is present right from the start. 'Haunts Of Ancient Peace' is musically a slowly driven thing with gentle, spaced-out bass lines, delicate drums and a really rather fab Saxophone break in the middle of the tune. Backing vocals pipe up singing their own kind of hymn and Morrison's voice is spellbinding, naturally. There are many forms of love and contentment and Morrison seems surrounded by the search for it - the feel of the music also suggests he's found it, at least for now. All in all, 'Haunts Of Ancient Peace' is utterly spell-binding and even better than the sometimes schizophrenic ( attempted ) epic that is 'Summertime In England'. 'Common One' essentially lives or dies by how much you enjoy 'Summertime In England'. Me? Well, i like that glorious Sax led climax. I like the slightly nervy energy of the first part of the tune. Repeated listens ultimately make more sense of the tune although Van does sound disturbingly like a sheep at one point, but we'll forgive him that for the ambition he displays here.

'Common One' arrived in the middle of Van experiencing a renewed sense of religion, but this isn't a finger-pointing, preaching album aka Dylan's religious LPs. In the true sense of the believer, Van tries to impart wisdom through energy and being a role-model. Well, hard to believe I know, but judging the music and words alone, he sounds so full of energy and a sense of wonder. This is certainly true of 'When Heart Is Open', a fifteen minute trance of a song that does have the ability to transport you. Elsewhere, tracks such as 'Spirit', 'Wild Honey' and 'Satisfied' all sport such great playing from the musicians Van surrounded himself with at this time that you can almost ignore the vocals and words and just concentrate on the music, wallowing in it like a pig in mud. It's great stuff and although 'Common One' is a very intense album that requires concentration, it's also a pretty damn fine album that showcases passion, love and intelligence in equal measure.